Approximately 450 business executives, elected officials and guests gathered at the Barn at Villa Venezia in Middletown on June 4 to honor Montgomery-based Engineering & Surveying Properties’ Principals Ross Winglovitz and Jay Samuelson as the Orange County Partnership’s Most Valuable Partners for 2024.
While the highlight of the program was feting this year’s MVP honorees, the event also featured highly informative Orange County Partnership updates on economic development activity and initiatives going forward this year.
The longtime Orange County residents that founded and continue to lead Engineering & Surveying Properties are celebrating their 20th year in business. The company boasts a diverse portfolio that has fueled the addition of much-needed housing for the county’s workforce, and thousands of jobs in connection with their engineering and surveying expertise on industrial, hotel, mixed-use, residential, retail, municipal and adaptive re-use developments.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus singled out Winglovitz and Samuelson as “industry leaders that get it done… I have known Ross and Jay for 20 years and they have a great portfolio of success and that is why they are being recognized today.” He added that the firm ensures that development projects receive timely municipal review that create opportunities and jobs for the residents of Orange County.
Neuhaus said he is “optimistic about the future” and said that in relation to the state’s push for microchip firm investment, Orange County government, the Orange County Partnership, the Orange County Chamber of Commerce and other partners plan on establishing high-tech training centers in order to provide firms with the talented workforce they require.
“There is no county in New York State like Orange County,” Neuhaus said. “We are balancing our budget on sales tax as opposed to crucifying people with property tax.”
Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan then discussed a number of key initiatives the economic development organization continues to pursue—including the decades-long expansion of Route 17 (future I-86).
She related that the 17-Forward-86 coalition was key to securing a $1-billion state commitment to the expansion project, which is now under environmental review by the New York State Department of Transportation.
“Adding a third lane spanning from Orange County to Sullivan County is so important to our economic development activity—construction jobs, increased tourism, and enhanced safety,” she said. Halahan asked that the assemblage join the Partnership’s efforts to support the Route 17 expansion project. She also urged attendees to get behind the latest expansion at Woodbury Common that is currently in the approval process.
Halahan also covered the Partnership’s efforts in connection with the $200-million FAST NY program to identify and secure funding shovel ready sties. She noted that Orange County secured funding for eight shovel-ready sites, the largest number in the state, under a similar program (Build Now NY) by the Pataki administration.
She reported that the Partnership and other stakeholders, including the Orange County Industrial Development Agency, helped secure a $462,000 grant for the Aden Brook Farm site in Montgomery to achieve shovel-ready status right at the launch of the current FAST NY program. Halahan added that the Orange County Partnership is currently targeting five additional shovel-ready sites to secure state funding.
Conor Eckert, Senior Development Officer & Vice President of Business Attraction for the Orange County Partnership, briefed attendees on the organization’s pipeline. He said the Partnership is currently competing with other locations for investment in diverse sectors. For example, the county currently has an active pipeline of 25 “real, substantial site selection requirements,” including 15 in the agricultural and manufacturing sector, of which six are international companies. Another 10 pending requirements involve distribution and logistics companies.
Eckert said that the main requirements companies seek for their relocation investments include available power and workforce training. Eckert also said that infrastructure investment will be critical in attracting development investment.
He concluded his remarks by predicting that in 2024 approximately 1.5 million square feet of speculative development will be built in Orange County.
